Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I want to purchase some samples (8 in total), so I can explore the Profumum line. If I buy from LS or TPC...they cost exactly the same, 4 bucks a piece... but I heard LS doesn't actually fill their samples all away to the top, and none of them are actually full....most of the time they're half full.

But on the other hand....TPC is a 4 way split run business....so you might get sections of your order at different times...that's the draw back....and orders are shipped within days compared to within 24 hours with LS.

Anyways, both have their pros and cons...but when it comes just to buying 1/32 samples....which do you prefer?

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Luckyscent has always filled up their samples full, when I've ordered.

Profumum is one of my favorite lines. I highly recommend you trying them all - the ones I have tried and love are Fumidus, Santalum, Acqua Viva and Olibanum. The scents are very well made, extremely simple in construction and most of them smell very unique.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I've had fantastic experiences with both businesses. I tend to reserve The Perfumed Court for the hard-to-find stuff or if I am studying a particular line or note (they have nice sample sets) and use Luckyscent for more common niche stuff. Just a habit I've gotten into.

And I don't mind receiving multiple packages. Makes me look forward to going to the mailbox

In my experience, if Luckyscent is not going to do a complete fill on a 1mL sample, they will usually say so in the text for the perfume. Otherwise, it's full.

The couple of Profumum's I've tried, I've liked. Sounds like a fun project.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'm just going to do Profumum for now....but I read in an older thread, that LS doesn't fill their samples all the way...so I was a bit hesitant. There was some complaints about it here:

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I'm a bit ticked off right now, because it's been over two weeks and I haven't received my order of 8 samples yet, considering LA and Van is a 2 hour airplane flight apart.

I emailed and they're sending it out again for me. I highly doubt it got stuck up in the post. This has never or rarely happened to me. I guess they forgot to send it out, even though I got a shipping confirmation, or what I've concluded based on the email from the customer service rep...they wrote down my address wrong. Some lucky guy or gal smells really good now.

I know they are making up for it, but it just bothers me that they can't get it right the first time.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I'm a bit ticked off right now, because it's been over two weeks and I haven't received my order of 8 samples yet, considering LA and Van is a 2 hour airplane flight apart.

Are you in Vancouver?

If so, I recently sent samples on the same day to a friend in Canada and a friend in California. The sample sent to Canada arrived more than two weeks later than the one to California. I understand that delays like this are somewhat normal when crossing borders.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, ...... I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I have had great experience with both. I have found Luckyscent to be slightly faster in shipping. Perfumed Court has a greater selection.

LuckyScent Advantages:
1. Quick quick QUICK (0.5wks for me in NY from their place in LA)
2. Website is easy to navigate
3. They take Paypal
4. Status is easy to follow (emails, etc.)
5. They have bottles to buy of everything they sample (and you will get free samples with the bottle)

Disadvantages:
1. Not the best prices on perfumes
2. Only stocks niche stuff
3. Only stocks things available in the US
4. No "sampler packs" or volume discounts.

Perfumed Court Advantages:
1. Samples are available for a enormous selection
2. They have "sampler packs" based upon themes sometimes at a slight discount from their a-la-carte prices (notes, type of perfume, experience level, perfumer, etc etc etc.)
3. You can select your size, and can get larger decants of things you couldn't or wouldn't afford a larger bottle of
4. Reasonably quick (though not as quick and LS) - typically 1.5 weeks from order to receipt for me.

Disadvantages:
1. Samples can get quite pricey
2. The confirmation emails can get confusing since they are sourced from many different people (you get a confirmation from each person that mails it - so you will likely get 3 packages)

All of my LS samples have been full - and sometimes, when ordering a 1/32 sample, you might get a manufacturer sample which is larger than 1mL for no extra money (I got a sample of Dzing from them that was from L'Artisan by the vial, and about 1.5mL)

You can also check out Aedes - they have a good sample program, too. Cheaper than LS and a slightly different (niche) inventory.

Last edited by Bromo33333; 15th February 2008 at 04:27 PM.

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“… [I] recall thinking that the computer would never advance much further than this. Call me naïve, but I seemed to have underestimated the universal desire to sit in a hard plastic chair and stare at a screen until your eyes cross.” ~ David Sedaris

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

TwoRoads: Yes, I'm in Vancouver. I actually had a package sent the very same day from New York as my LS order. lspNY sent me a large sized decant of Tuscan Leather. I received the package early this week (9 business days). The LS sent was just a white padded evenlope with 8 tiny samples in it (identical to lettermail/small package). Regardless, its now been 13 business days and I haven't received the package. There was an error done with shipment. Typical, I receive my packages from the US within 7-10 business days, if shipped regular airmail. I just received another package from New Jersey yesterday (5 business day) when it was shipped priority.

Bromo33333: Thank you for the comparison, and the suggestion of Aedes. I'll definitely consider them for my next sample order.

nyneve: Yes, Profumum. They're expensive, but I'll see how it goes, I always wanted to try them, Fumidus especially. In general, I'd rather wear Creed's OV than Muglers Cologne.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Originally Posted by thebeck

The limit if two is per fragrance. You may order as many samples as you like otherwise.

Ooooooh, so the limit is two per order?
I didn't know, so I asked for 5 samples with my purchase. I received 3.
I was thinking "man, are they stingy with their samples or what?" but they were probably feeling differently about this act of generosity. lol.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Just some stuff to say....

Aedes sounds great, but I found out they don't ship outside of the USA.

caviglia:Yup, as someone mentioned. You're limited to having allowance to 2 samples (2ml) per scent. Don't know why, but that's the reason. You can order as many samples as you want, but I stick to 15 samples, because after that limit, I'm forced to choose the ground shipping of 20 bucks instead of a small package airmail shipping cost of 5 dollars. Though, it might be different for US customers.

heythatslife: It's ordinary to receive 3 free samples for any purchase over 85 dollars (outlined somewhere on their site). You can note the ones you want through the checkout comment box.

For me...oddly I received my order shipped out on Jan. 29th today, after almost 3 weeks. It was shipped air and I really don't know what was the delay. I've received larger sized parcels faster. I guess I'm getting two orders for the cost of one...., and I spoke to the mail person, they thought the delay was odd as well.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Originally Posted by nsamadi

caviglia:Yup, as someone mentioned. You're limited to having allowance to 2 samples (2ml) per scent. Don't know why, but that's the reason. You can order as many samples as you want, but I stick to 15 samples, because after that limit, I'm forced to choose the ground shipping of 20 bucks instead of a small package airmail shipping cost of 5 dollars. Though, it might be different for US customers.

OK, that makes more sense. I was thinking you were limited to 2 *samples* per order. Thanks!

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I'm not impressed with LuckyScent. I placed a samples order and received an e-mail from telling me that some were out of stock and backordered and my order would be shipped when complete. I e-mailed asking how long and what part of the order would be back ordered. No response. I called a few days later. No response. Then e-mailed again asking that they please tell me something, anything. No response. I'm considering contacting Amex and stopping payment on my order.

Meanwhile, Perfumed Court seems to have much better service. If I receive my order from them in a timely fashion (less than a week -- it shipped the 4th) then I'll order solely from them in the future.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Interesting. I asked for samples - and I emailed them when I didn't get a "shipped" notice. They responded in under 24 hours and indicated that they had been short handed and apologized profusely. Important that you email lucky@ luckyscent.com as indicated on their website, I think.

I also put in an order for bottle as well which I knew was backordered, and they informed me that it would be 2 weeks before they got the next shipment in.

But I have no personal complaints between the two of them. You can also try Aedes, they have a smaple program as well, though their website is a bit harder to navigate and handle the samples.

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“… [I] recall thinking that the computer would never advance much further than this. Call me naïve, but I seemed to have underestimated the universal desire to sit in a hard plastic chair and stare at a screen until your eyes cross.” ~ David Sedaris

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

The only complaint I have with LS is that, my sample order took 3 weeks to get here. Very odd and I emailed them and they said it might have gotten lost in the mail and reshipped my sample order. The next day I received my initial order (the one they thought got lost), but I didn't say anything . I wanted to test how long the second order would come in, again another 3 weeks later I got the reshipment, two orders for the price of one.

When you order through LS, there's usually a "back ordered" notice on the scents homepage if it's out of stock, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. Anyways, stuff like that is normal, things get out of stock, but they should have at least responded to your email's with the questions you had.

I've also delt with a few online stores, where they actually send your order out minus the back ordered items (if you have any), and when the back ordered items do get back in stock, they ship it out at no cost. Nice, but LS doesn't do that, even though their postage is a dollar or less, and probably another dollar for packaging items, when they charge 4-5 bucks for shipping.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Originally Posted by Bromo33333

Interesting. I asked for samples - and I emailed them when I didn't get a "shipped" notice. They responded in under 24 hours and indicated that they had been short handed and apologized profusely. Important that you email lucky@ luckyscent.com as indicated on their website, I think.

I also put in an order for bottle as well which I knew was backordered, and they informed me that it would be 2 weeks before they got the next shipment in.

But I have no personal complaints between the two of them. You can also try Aedes, they have a smaple program as well, though their website is a bit harder to navigate and handle the samples.

I had the same problem, too but it was with Aedes. I actually called them and the gentleman who answered was very nice about it. I just wanted some samples, in fact all I wanted was to see what Creed Spring Flowers smelled like. I said just throw in any men's perfumes that you feel like. I must've goteen around 10 full vials of stuff.

I never had a problem with LuckyScent. They always sent the samples I requested on time. Some vials were much larger than the usual and full.

Beauty Habit also has a sample program. Great experience from them as well. I got a nice hand written note with my name on it and the person who handled my order. Three of my new favorites have come from one order of samples.

Never had experience with The Perfumed Court.

I don't think I've ever had a complaint about any online place I've ordered from.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

In an effort to try out all of these niche scents that I've been reading about and to actually check out if there were any differences I ordered 14 samples from The Perfumed Court and 9 from Luckyscent.

Shipping is pretty close to identical price wise and everything was here within 5 days of the order even with TPC's three different sellers. It was nice getting a few in anumber of packages over three days. Made it like an early Easter basket. Quickest package was Patty from TPC which arrived in three days everything else was here within four days of ordering.

Selection is slightly different between the two services the biggest advantage I see to TPC is for something I know i want more of the option to get a little more of it for less than just mutiplying the smallest sample price. TPC seems to have more of the upper end expensive things but that is an impression and not completely backed up with a rigorous comparison.

Really for any Basenoter just starting out you can't go wrong with either sample servive both sites offer us the chance to try just about anything you read about on these forums and make up your mind whether you really like something.

So my final verdict is both The Perfumed Court and Luckyscent are top-notch services especially for the novice nose and I will be using both for a long time to come now that I have discovered them.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

I think it might be a good thing to remember that The Perfumed Court is in the business of selling samples/decants, whereas Luckyscent is doing it to get customers to buy full bottles from them.

I like both companies, I have bought from both often and I will continue to buy from both often. But I don't think we should lump them as the same 'category' of business and judge them equally in terms of sample shopping experiences.

Luckyscent is not in the business of perfecting the sample shopping experience (even if they do charge $3 a vial...it's an extremely labor intensive process to decant 1/32 ml glass vials). Most likely Luckeyscent does it as a marketing incentive to encourage sales of bottles, which is where they really make their meat-and-potatoes profit.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Just wanted to add that based on the two posts above I tried fishbone 96 (Nancy) and ordered three decants. I found her selection to be less complete than TPC but for what she has, her prices are the best especially as you move up into larger decants. Shipping was very quick and e-mail contact was near instantaneous. Also she was the only one of the three to throw in a few extra samples along with my order. That's after ordering about the same amount from all three services dollar wise. I will definitely shop with her again. Most likely she will be my first stop when looking for something because I think I'll get the best price from her.
The real conclusion here is that as consumers we have three very excellent sources of samples and decants which this community has validated as authentic and responsive to their customers. To me that's a very good thing.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Originally Posted by Somerville Metro Man

Just wanted to add that based on the two posts above I tried fishbone 96 (Nancy) and ordered three decants. I found her selection to be less complete than TPC but for what she has, her prices are the best especially as you move up into larger decants. Shipping was very quick and e-mail contact was near instantaneous. Also she was the only one of the three to throw in a few extra samples along with my order. That's after ordering about the same amount from all three services dollar wise. I will definitely shop with her again. Most likely she will be my first stop when looking for something because I think I'll get the best price from her.

Glad you had a great transaction. She's top notch. She doesn't have a lot compared to TPC, but there's still a lot of good stuff to choose from. Le Labo, Guerlain & Caron Extraits, Tom Ford Private Blend, Non-export SL, FM, etc.... I might place a 2nd order later on.

Easy, simple, and very professional. I placed a large order costing over $100 dollars and she gave me a $10 dollar discount. Very kind of her. I believe she was also part of TPC duo, but decided to drop out and just liquidate her stuff now on her blog.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Luckyscent is always lightning fast service. fishbone is also fast. On the other end of the spectrum is The Perfumed Court. When the girls ran there decant company's separately, all were fast service. Now they've joined together and service is lacking to say the least. The lag time between placing an order and shipping can take a couple of days and in some cases up to a week. Also different frags come from different girls-therefore different shipping time and arrival of different frags. I spend $150.00-$200.00 a month with The Perfumed Court so I feel I've placed enough orders to know. I will continue to purchase from The Court because they still have the best selection. I've always got what I ordered, but if you're in a hurry, stick with Luckyscent or fishbone for same day shipping.

Re: Luckyscent vs. The Perfumed Court (Just For 1/32 Samples)

Highly Highly Recommend! I got my package in a few business days, which was quick for US to Canada shipping. The package and labeling was excellent, she seems to have a thing for the color red. Using red packaging tape and bubble wrap. She gave me a 10 dollar discount, a free 5ml decant and a soft chewy candy which I'm eating right now....Lovin' it. Oh, she also did my TF Private Blends at per ml cost.